☆☆☆☆☆ Undecided
★☆☆☆☆ Bad
★★☆☆☆ Fair
★★★☆☆ Good
★★★★☆ Great
★★★★★ Masterpiece

Note: There are books listed here whose views I do not endorse. I try to break beyond my bubble and understand others. If you’re interested in my current beliefs, feel free to email me.

review ★★★★★ 2023-03-27 John Kennedy Toole :: A Confederacy of Dunces
review ★★☆☆☆ 2023-03-26 Helen Fielding :: Bridget Jones’s Diary
review ★★☆☆☆ 2023-03-23 Brian McClellan :: Promise of Blood
review ★★★★★ 2023-03-16 Derek Sivers :: Anything You Want
review ★★☆☆☆ 2023-03-12 Martin E. P. Seligman :: Learned Optimism
review ★★☆☆☆ 2023-03-12 Connie Willis :: To Say Nothing of the Dog
review ★★★☆☆ 2023-03-07 Kelly Link :: Get In Trouble
review ★★★☆☆ 2023-03-02 David Mitchell :: Slade House
review ★★★☆☆ 2023-03-02 Sylvia Plath :: The Bell Jar
review ★★☆☆☆ 2023-02-22 Dan Simmons :: The Fall of Hyperion
review ★★★★★ 2023-02-13 John Green :: The Anthropocene Reviewed
review ★★★☆☆ 2023-02-13 David Sedaris :: Me Talk Pretty One Day
review ★★★☆☆ 2023-02-09 Peter Thiel :: Zero to One
review ★★★☆☆ 2023-02-05 Andy Weir :: Artemis
review ★★★★☆ 2023-02-02 Dan Simmons :: Hyperion
review ★★★☆☆ 2023-01-27 Steven Pressfield :: The War of Art
review ★★★★☆ 2023-01-26 Scott Adams :: God’s Debris
review ★★★★☆ 2023-01-24 Anne Rice :: Interview with the Vampire
review ★★★★★ 2023-01-21 Haruki Murakami :: Norwegian Wood
review ★★★★☆ 2023-01-18 Brandon Sanderson :: The Way of Kings
review ★★★★★ 2022-12-25 Margaret Atwood :: The Handmaid’s Tale
review ★★★★☆ 2022-12-19 George Orwell :: Animal Farm
review ★★★★☆ 2022-12-04 Terry Pratchett :: The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1)
review ★★★★☆ 2022-11-27 Kazuo Ishiguro :: The Remains of the Day
review ★★★☆☆ 2022-11-19 Albert Camus :: The Stranger
review ★★★★★ 2022-11-13 Franz Kafka :: Metamorphosis
review ★★☆☆☆ 2022-10-30 Ryan Holiday :: Discipline is Destiny
review ★★★★☆ 2022-10-16 Phillip K. Dick :: Ubik
review ★★★★☆ 2022-10-09 Marshall Goldsmith :: Triggers
review ★★★☆☆ 2022-10-02 Gene Wolf :: Book of the New Sun
review ★★★★☆ 2022-09-02 Stanislaw Lem :: Solaris
review ★★★★★ 2022-08-18 Pearl S. Buck :: The Good Earth
★★★☆☆ 2022 Neal Stephenson :: Cryptonomicon
★★★☆☆ 2022 Neil Gaiman :: Neverwhere
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 Derek Sivers :: Anything You Want
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 Derek Sivers :: How to Live
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 David Eagleman :: Sum: Tales from the Afterlives
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 Stu Campbell :: Let It Rot!
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 Falk :: The Resilient Farm and Homestead
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 Halleck :: Gardening Under Lights
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 Cal Newport :: Digital Minimalism
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 Cal Newport :: So Good They Can’t Ignore You
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 Scott Wynn :: Discovering Japanese Handplanes
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 Toshio Odate :: Japanese Woodworking Tools
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 Kip Mesirow and Ron Herman :: The Care And Use Of Japanese Woodworking Tools
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 Aldren A. Watson :: Hand Tools
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 Vic Tessolin :: The Minimalist Woodworker
☆☆☆☆☆ 2022 Anna Yudina :: Furnitechture
★★★☆☆ 2022 Neal Stephenson :: Anathem
★☆☆☆☆ 2022 Pierre Bayard :: How To Talk About Books You Haven’t Read
★★★☆☆ 2021 Patrick Rothfuss :: Name of the Wind
☆☆☆☆☆ 2020 Brandon Sanderson :: Mistborn: The Hero of Ages
☆☆☆☆☆ 2020 Brandon Sanderson :: Mistborn: The Well of Ascension
☆☆☆☆☆ 2020 Brandon Sanderson :: Mistborn: The Final Empire
★★★★☆ Yuval Noah Harari :: Sapiens
★★★☆☆ Peter Tiel :: Zero to One
★★★☆☆ Dale Carnegie :: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
★★☆☆☆ Malcolm Gladwell :: Talking to Strangers
★★★★★ Joseph Heller :: Catch-22
★★★☆☆ Raymond Smullyan :: The Tao is Silent
★★★★☆ Neal Stephenson :: Seveneves
☆☆☆☆☆ Edmund Morriss :: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
☆☆☆☆☆ William Gibson :: Distrust That Particular Flavor
★★★☆☆ Dave Eggers :: The Circle
★★★★☆ Derek Sivers :: Hell Yeah or No
★★☆☆☆ Jordan Peterson :: 12 Rules for Life
★★☆☆☆ 2020 Ernest Cline :: Ready, Player One
★★★★★ 2019 Neal Stephenson :: Snowcrash
☆☆☆☆☆ 2019 Douglas Adams :: Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency
☆☆☆☆☆ 2019 Jeff VanderMeer :: Annihilation
★★☆☆☆ 2019 Mark Haddon :: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
★★★☆☆ 2019 Daniel Suarez :: Daemon
☆☆☆☆☆ 2019 Cliff Stoll :: High-Tech Heretic
☆☆☆☆☆ 2019 Smalltalk-80
★★★☆☆ 2018 David Foster Wallace :: The Broom of the System
☆☆☆☆☆ 2018 David Foster Wallace :: Consider the Lobster
☆☆☆☆☆ 2018 David Foster Wallace :: A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again
☆☆☆☆☆ 2018 Mark Rippetoe :: Starting Strength: Basic barbell Training
★★★☆☆ Frank Herbert :: Dune
☆☆☆☆☆ Neil Gaiman :: Trigger Warning
☆☆☆☆☆ Scott Lynch :: The Lies of Loch Lamorah
☆☆☆☆☆ James Gleick :: The Information
☆☆☆☆☆ Walter Isaacson :: Benjamin Franklin
☆☆☆☆☆ Tony Robbins :: Awaken the Giant Within
☆☆☆☆☆ Fred Brooks :: The Mythical Man Month
☆☆☆☆☆ 2017 Neil Gaiman :: The Graveyard Book
☆☆☆☆☆ 2017 Raymond Smullyan :: To Mock a Mockingbird
☆☆☆☆☆ Seneca :: On the Shortness of Life
☆☆☆☆☆ Raymond Smullyan :: To Mock a Mockingbird
☆☆☆☆☆ Nassim Taleb :: Antifragile
☆☆☆☆☆ Alan Moore :: V for Vendetta
☆☆☆☆☆ Alan Moore :: Watchmen
★★★☆☆ Steve Brusatte :: Rise & Fall of Dinosaurs
★★★★☆ Benjamin Hoff :: The Tao of Poo
☆☆☆☆☆ Kahneman :: Thinking, Fast and Slow
★★★★★ Lao Tzu :: Tao Te Ching
★★★★★ Dale Carnegie :: How to Win Friends and Influence People
☆☆☆☆☆ 2015 David Sedaris :: Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls
☆☆☆☆☆ 2015 Yoshikawa :: Musashi
☆☆☆☆☆ 2015 Gleick :: Faster
★★★★★ 2015 Jared Diamond :: Guns, Germs, and Steel
☆☆☆☆☆ 2015 Douglas Hofstadter :: Metamagical Themas
☆☆☆☆☆ 2015 Marie Kondo :: Spark Joy
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Jonah Berger :: Contagious
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Goff :: Love Does
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Klosterman :: Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Smullyan :: The Tao is Silent
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Gaiman :: American Gods
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Brooks :: Business Adventures
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 David Foster Wallace :: A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Charles Duhigg :: The Power of Habit
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Douglas Hofstadter :: I am a Strange Loop
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Schwartz :: The Paradox of Choice
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Nassim Taleb :: The Black Swan
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Ferriss :: The 4-Hour Body
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Isaacson :: The Innovators
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Kondo :: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Richard Feynmann :: What Do You Care What Other People Think?
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Richard Feynmann :: Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynmann!
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Wong :: Being Taoist
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Taleb :: Antifragile
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Johnson :: How We Got to Now
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Harris :: Waking Up
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Weir :: The Martian
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Osho :: Learning to Silence the Mind
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Drucker :: Managing Oneself
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Snow :: Smartcuts
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 MacLeod :: Ignore Everybody
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Munroe :: What If?
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Rand :: The Fountainhead
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Sahn :: Dropping Ashes on the Buddha
☆☆☆☆☆ 2014 Cohelo :: The Alchemist
★☆☆☆☆ 2013 Ben Carson :: Gifted Hands
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Sophocles :: Oedipus Rex
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Zhuangzi
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Tacitus :: Agricola
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Gladwell :: David and Goliath
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Gangi :: Theodore Roosevelt: His Essential Wisdom
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Ohanian :: Without their Permission
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Snicket :: The Bad Beginning
★☆☆☆☆ 2013 Trump :: Think Big and Kick Ass
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Sophocles :: Oedipus Rex
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Asimov :: Foundation
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Asimov :: Second Foundation
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Asimov :: Foundation’s Edge
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Card :: Ender’s Game
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Card :: Speaker for the Dead
☆☆☆☆☆ 2013 Levitt & Dubner :: Think Like a Freak
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Foer :: Moonwalking with Einstein
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Hesse :: Siddhartha
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Ching :: A Visual Dictionary of Architecture
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Plato :: The Republic
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Martin :: This is a Book
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 May :: In Pursuit of Elegance
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Alighieri :: Divine Comedy, Part 1: Inferno
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Rand :: The Virtue of Selfishness
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Dawkins :: The Selfish Gene
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Castro and Hyslop :: HTML5/CSS3
★★★★★ 2012 Hofstadter :: Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Pirsing :: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Singh :: Fermat’s Enigma
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Hartman :: The People Code
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Lao-Tzu :: Te-Tao Ching
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Salinger :: The Catcher in the Rye
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Fitzgerald :: The Great Gatsby
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Vonnegut :: Cat’s Cradle
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Smullyan :: 5000BC
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Thoreau :: Walden
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Bonanos :: Instant: The Story of Polaroid
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Schroeder :: The Snowball
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Sacks :: Musicophilia
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Edelman :: Second Nature
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Nagel and Newman :: Gödel’s Proof
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Johnson :: Emergence
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Griffin :: Two Great Truths
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Goldberg :: The Executive Mind
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Aleksandern :: How to Build a Mind
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Newport :: How to Become a Straight-A Student
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Adams :: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
★☆☆☆☆ 2012 Buford :: Halftime
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Greene :: Mastery
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Oldstone-Moore :: Taoism
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Warwick :: Artificial Intelligence: The Basics
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Schonberger and Cukier :: Big Data
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Fagerstrom and Smith :: Show Me How
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Hoff :: The Tao of Pooh
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Mark Twain :: The Autobiography of Mark Twain
☆☆☆☆☆ 2012 Graham :: Hackers and Painters
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Wozniak :: iWoz
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Isaacson :: Steve Jobs
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Paine :: The Age of Reason
★☆☆☆☆ 2011 Phillips :: Your God is Too Small
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Franklin :: The Way to Wealth
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Cohen :: Stuff Every Man Should Know
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Miller, Benjamin, and North :: The Economics of Public Issues
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Steinbeck :: Cannery Row
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Marx :: The Communist Manifesto
★☆☆☆☆ 2011 Lobenstine :: The Renaissance Soul
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Abbott :: Flatland
★★☆☆☆ 2011 Rand :: Atlas Shrugged
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Ayres :: The Mentor
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Gilmore :: Alice in Quantumland
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Machiavelli :: The Prince
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Doyle :: A Study in Scarlet & Hound of the Baskervilles
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Burgess :: A Clockwork Orange
★★★★★ 2011 Heller :: Catch-22
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Hamilton :: Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Palahnluk :: Fight Club
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Vonnegurt :: Slaughterhouse Five
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Alcott :: The Young Man’s Guide
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Huxley :: A Brave New World
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Gladwell :: Blink
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Morris :: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Hawking :: A Brief History of Time
★☆☆☆☆ 2011 White :: Steps to Christ
★★☆☆☆ 2011 Moore :: Batman: The Killing Joke
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Dawkins :: The God Delusion
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Washington :: Rules of Civility
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Chbosky :: The Perks of Being a Wall Flawer
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Sun Tzu :: The Art of War
★★★☆☆ 2011 Meyers :: Twilight
★★☆☆☆ 2011 Rowling :: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Moore and Gillette :: King, Warrior, Magician, Lover
★☆☆☆☆ 2011 Flew :: There is a God
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Pink :: Drive
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Musashi :: The Book of Five Rings
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Russell :: The Problems of Philosophy
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Lee :: The Tao of Jeet Kune Do
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Gladwell :: Outliers
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Keller :: Reasons for God
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 David Allen :: The Art of Getting Things Done
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Chimero :: The Shape of Design
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Conwell :: Increasing Personal Efficiency
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Gleick :: Chaos
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Rand :: Anthem
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Wallace :: Consider the Lobster
★☆☆☆☆ 2011 Beck :: The Alpha Male Guide
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Gladwell :: What the Dog Saw
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Levitt and Dubner :: Freakonomics
☆☆☆☆☆ 2011 Suzanne Collins :: The Hunger Games
☆☆☆☆☆ Daniel Keys :: Flowers for Algernon
☆☆☆☆☆ Junji Ito :: Uzumaki
☆☆☆☆☆ Mark Z. Danielewski :: Only Revolutions
☆☆☆☆☆ Mark Z. Danielewski :: House of Leaves

A Confederacy of Dunces

Nutty Professor meets Don Quixote meets Infinite Jest. A literary landmark ahead of its time.

Bridget Jones’s Diary

An endearing read about the difficulties of young adult life and womanhood in the modern era. Contains great tongue-in-cheek commentaries on health, feminism, egotism, and addiction.

Promise of Blood

It’s a charming adventure/fantasy story with good characters and cool magic – nothing revolutionary.

Anything You Want

I adore this short book. Anything You Want celebrates simplicity and sincerity. It reads like a guide to entrepeneurship for Taoists. I’ve read a lot of business books, and none come close to hitting this hard. Companies forget their customers and drink bureaucratic kool-aid in the pursuit of profits. As I’m starting my own business, I keep coming back to this book to remind me of why I’m doing what I’m doing.

Learned Optimism

This book has exactly three good observations: (1) optimists attribute permanent causes to good events and temporary causes to bad events, (2) optimism is useful when risk is minimal, and (3) optimism is dangerous in risky situations. Learned Optimism would have been an excellent 250-word book.

To Say Nothing of the Dog

Witty, but distractingly British.

Get In Trouble

The Summer People is one of the best short stories I’ve ever encountered. The other stories in this collection are well-written but failed to hit me in the feels – intriguing plot premises and a great literary style wasted on young-adult subject matter.

Slade House

This book is a structural marvel but hollow inside. It gives great pacing with lackluster payoffs.

The Bell Jar

This is a must-read for anybody who wants to learn what it’s like to have a mental breakdown, or love somebody in a dark place. This book was well-written but too painfully familiar. This book made me sad without being charming or teaching me anything new. It stole from me and gave me nothing in return, but I imagine it has much to give others.

The Fall of Hyperion

This book seemed to have a lot to say. It wanted to be philosophical, it wanted to be adventurous, it wanted to be suspenseful, it wanted to be mysterious, and it wanted to be thought-provoking. But in my opinion, it didn’t do a great job at anything in particular. Or maybe its brilliance was wasted on me.

The Anthropocene Reviewed

Painfully human essays; five stars.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

Witty and deeply personal essay collection. Great insights on parenting, grief, pets, language, and addiction.

Zero to One

Solid book on the how & why of founding a startup.

Artemis

This book is a well-researched sci-fi MacGyver adventure story. It’s got great characters and a fast plot. Solid book.

Hyperion

Hyperion is unusually refreshing sci-fi. It’s 6-8 interconnected short stories with drama, horror, mystery, and awe. Some sections didn’t age well, but the writing is incredible in some parts, and some of its ideas are downright brilliant.

The War of Art

If you need inspiration or a swift kick-in-the-butt, read this book. Since reading, I’ve been unable to make my usual excuses that divert me from my art and career and health. For me, every page contained a mixture of timeless wisdom and awful advice. This book is overall charming and pragmatic.

God’s Debris

From few axioms, God’s Debris forms a surprisingly coherent religion, philosophy of science, and practical life advice; a worthwhile ~90-minute read.

Interview with the Vampire

Imagine The Count of Monte Cristo meets Faust meets Twilight – it’s an epic tale with deep philosophical underpinnings… and vampires! This book is worth reading if you want to dramatically ponder death, love, and evil.

Norwegian Wood

This book should be labeled with an extreme trigger warning. It covers death and sex and more death and more sex and a whole lot of depression. Imagine blending together Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Scott Pilgrim, and a smut novel. I think I learned a lot about selfishness and happiness from this experience. I wish I read this when I was 19.

The Way of Kings

If Sanderson’s Mistborn is The Chronicles of Narnia, then The Stormlight Archives is The Lord of the Rings. It’s magical, political, and finely crafted. Brandon Sanderson knows how to write payoffs. This book alone contains 383,000 words, so clear your schedule before reading.

The Handmaid’s Tale

Much of The Handmaid’s Tale is surely beyond my comprehension, but it provided a sobering glimpse into some of the unfairnesses of nature and society. Atwood’s general take on United States fundamentalism is outstanding. The book is riveting throughout, but its ending secures it a “modern masterpiece”.

Animal Farm

Animal Farm delightfully illustrates how authoritarian regimes usurp control. Although the book seemed to be specifically a critique of Stalin’s Russia, there are gems to glean about perverse institutional incentives.

The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1)

This was my first Terry Pratchett book. Oh boy, what a delight! If you like clever authors like Raymond Smullyan and Douglas Adams, you’ll adore his writing. The Colour of Magic covers some surprisingly deep ideas about science and religion wearing a witty grin.

The Remains of the Day

The Remains of the Day is a subtle story from the perspective of a charming butler. I highly recommend this book if you’re in a wistful mood or receptive to deep introspection.

The Stranger

This book is very highly acclaimed. After reading it, I thought I missed something, so I read a few critical analyses – nope, I understood it perfectly. The Stranger has a decent plot with great writing. This book was probably ground-breaking in 1942, but existentialism has been beaten to death since then. On my end, this is probably a case of “Seinfeld is unfunny”.

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis is potent. It’s witty, horrific, deep, and bizarre – an unforgettable experience.

Discipline is Destiny

This book was inspiring but forgettable. All the examples of disciplined people got me pumped, but I didn’t find much actionable content.

Ubik

Good sci-fi stories explore “cool ideas”. Ubik miraculously interleaves 3-5 “cool ideas”. And it keeps topping itself with bigger and bigger extensions of its core “cool ideas”. Read Ubik if you like “cool ideas”.

Triggers

This is a self-help book that delivers. It’s an incredibly useful guide on how to enact lasting change in yourself. This book focuses on growth via environmental cues. I particularly liked the concrete advice on daily active questions, accountability partners, and actionable ways to change cognitive contexts.

Book of the New Sun

These books are extremely subversive, yet the author falls prey to the exact tropes he’s “subverting”. The plot oscillates between mind-bending self-reference and painful self-awarelessness. Some of the twists are incredible. I suspect that this is an excellent book that aged poorly.

Solaris

A sci-fi book that gave me literal nightmares. It’s unsettling and thought-provoking.

The Good Earth

A heartbreaking rags-to-riches-to-rags story about wealth, family, work, fairness, kindness, and land. It’s easy to see why a book about rural Chinese peasants was the best-selling book in the US during The Dust Bowl and The Great Depression. This book will inspire or haunt you.